"cynical" = 犬儒?

[mr. fanglang]

I thought cynical/cynicism was 犬儒 but then some people told me nobody uses this term in normal conversation and many native speakers don't even know what it means. So is there a more common term for "cyncial"?

also, sarcastic = 讽刺?

irony = 反讽?

[semantic nuance]

1. Indeed, I've never heard of anyone use 犬儒 in daily conversation. You'll only see it in written form, in articles. I think you can use 憤世嫉俗(fen4 shi4 ji4 su2) to mean 'cynical'.

Ex: 他那人挺憤世嫉俗的. He's quite cynical.

2. You're right about irony and sarcastic. you can use 譏諷 (ji1 feng4)too.

Hope it helps.

[semantic nuance]

colloquially, you can use 挖苦(wa1ku3) to mean speak sarcastically.

Ex: 她很喜歡挖苦人.

[红酒对清秋]

A scornful, bitterly mocking attitude or quality

愤世嫉俗

[mr. fanglang]

yes, 愤世嫉俗 means scolding, bitter, angry...but it does not mean cynical. cynicism is different from being bitter and angry (even if its just a nuance difference).

thus, if 犬儒 is not commonly used in the chinese language, does that mean chinese culture has no concept of cynicism in their mentality? i once read somewhere that japanese culture has no concept of irony, wonder if this is something similar.

[skylee]

This is from Xinhua dictionary on-line ->

犬儒

quǎnrú

[cynic] 原指古希腊抱有玩世不恭思想的一派哲学家,后来泛指玩世不恭的人,尤指知识分子

This is from my favourite dictionary ->

犬儒 quǎnrú - 原指古希臘蘇格拉底弟子安提西尼所創的學派，主張排除名利、禮節、教化等的束縛，時人譏為犬，故名。後來泛指玩世不恭的人。

[mr. fanglang]

玩世不恭, yeah thats close. but all of these chinese terms in this post-you don't hear nearly as often in chinese as you hear "cynical" in english conversation. i still think it goes back to language as extension of culture. just like how there are many chinese terms that have no common and straightforward english translation.

btw, i've started to read 千年繁華, it indeed also brings back my fond memories of kyoto. the chinese translation is extremely easy to read. or i can pretend that my chinese has improved tremendously. thanks for the recommendation, i think skylee mentioned it.

[skylee]

I did. It was not bad.

[semantic nuance]

I looked up the chinese dictionary, 玩世不恭 is defined as 不莊重, 不嚴謹的生活態度 (not respectful, not serious demeanor or attitude toward life.) I don't think it close to 'cynical' at all when 'cynical' means "having a sneering disbelief in sincerity or integrity" (from Merrian-Webster Online) According to Merrian-Webster Online, cynical can mean:

1. captious, peevish 2 : having or showing the attitude or temper of a cynic : as a : contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives b : based on or reflecting a belief that human conduct is motivated primarily by self-interest .

Now, I'm wondering if we can use 嗤之以鼻 to mean 'cynical'? Any idea?

[mr. fanglang]

After having asked a few chinese language professors about this, it seems the chinese language has no native equivalent of cynicism/cynical. 犬儒 is translated/borrowed from the west. Hence, its not used that much in conversation.

[amego]

one singapore slang for being sarcastic is 酸 suan1, meaning sour or acid (which is very appropriate) so,

她喜欢酸我=她喜欢挖苦我...